A Dragon's Mate

Frieze whirled around, looking down the tunnel, clenching his teeth in frustration.

"My lord…," one cultist began.

"Don't stop!" Frieze snapped angrily, "I'll deal with the boy!" He then leapt to the ground, as he remove this armor. The right side of his chest was covered with red tattoos, and the left blue. They then came together into a red and blue spiral in the center of his chest. Frieze then held up his arms, the right with the same red tattoos, and the left with the same blue ones. On the palm of his respective hands were circles of the respective colors.

Red and blue light appeared in the center of the spiral, before traveling down the circles onto his palms, creating orbs of heat and cold respectively.

"Alright, show me what you can do, Salamander!" Frieze hissed, as he got ready to fight.

(with Elfman and the girls)

Elfman and the girls watched as the glow of Natsu's fire disappeared down the tunnel.

"That guy never ceases to amaze me," Levy says.

"He's a man! He must always impress!"

"Well, let's just not get in his way, knowing Natsu he could very much destroy this entire mountain," Cana said.

(with Wendy)

"Alright, I think its this way," Carla said, pointing. She and Wendy were making their way back to where they hoped was the entrance. Unfortunately, that was proving difficult, seeing as the whole thing seemed to be some kind of labyrinth.

"What do you think, Erza?" Wendy asked. Erza's eyes flashed in agreement.

"That way it is," Wendy said. Carla looked at Wendy briefly as they moved down the hall. Did she not fully trust her? The cat let her memories slide back to her. Memories of home….

"Wendy…" Carla couldn't finish, as Wendy suddenly pulled her down, and hid behind a rock.

"What is it?"

"Shhh!" Wendy said, holding her finger to her lips. The two then looked down the tunnel. A faint slithering sound could be heard. From around the corner, a watery hand reached around, as Juvia, still in her Water Hydra form slithered forward. Juvia? Wendy thought.

The water woman scanned the area, as did the multiple heads. Wendy and Carla then noticed that floating in Juvia's abdomen were three figures. Upon looking closer, it was noticed that one of them was Gray. She ate them? Juvia then turned, and started slithering down the tunnel, as Wendy watched her.

"What happened to her?" she whispered.

"I have no idea," Carla said, "But she is clearly not in her right mind. We should…" Wendy was already moving down the hall, after Juvia.

"Wendy!" Carla hissed, as she fluttered after her.

(with Gray)

Gray lay floating, unconscious in Juvia's belly. After devouring them, the Water Hydra was slowly siphoning off his magic power, as it was doing to Geier and Agora. As a result of that, Gray's mind seemed… connected.

(in the mental world)

Gray was floating in a blue void, having appeared in their right after Juvia swallowed him. Not far away, was Juvia, also floating in the void, but she was surrounded in a blue bubble.

"Juvia!" he called for the umpteenth time. He had stopped counting, considering how many times he had tried.

"Come on! You've got to snap out of it!" He tried moving over to her, but it was like he was swimming through molasses. Eventually, he finally reached her, and laid his hands against the bubble.

"I know you're in there somewhere!" Gray said, "And I know you're stronger than this creature! Fight it!" Juvia remained still in her watery prison. Gray clenched his teeth.

"You're telling me that after all you've done, you're throwing in the towel now?" he said, "Damn it! You're not allowed to do this!" He then pushed against the bubble. All this time, Gray had rejected Juvia's advances. But he was an honest man, and he wasn't going to lie on this: he sort of liked Juvia.

Despite all his rejections of her, Gray wasn't stupid. Juvia was a sweet, loyal woman, all features Gray liked, not to mention that she was beautiful. And Gray would be a complete idiot to not know a good woman when he saw her. The primary reason that he'd been rejecting her was out of personal pride, and to maintain his own image. But now, when the chips were down….

"Juvia," he said softly, as he put his forehead against the bubble, "I know you can hear me. I just want to let you know that I don't hate you. I don't even dislike you. I know that my behavior towards you might be different, but I don't. I…."

"I actually kind of like you," he admitted. For a brief instance, it seemed that Juvia's face twitched.

"Its not that I dislike you, its just that I'm…," Gray clenched his teeth, "I'm scared. I'm a coward. I'm afraid of such a commitment. You're not the one with the problem, I am." Suddenly, Gray could begin to feel his hands slip through the barrier, very slowly.

(in the real world)

Wendy and Carla had been following Juvia as she slithered down the halls, hiding in the shadows. The eyes of the hydra gave her near 360 degree view of her area, but by sticking to the shadows, the two managed to avoid her gaze. Suddenly, the hydra abruptly stopped, to the girls' surprise.

(in the mental world)

Gray continued to slowly push through towards Juvia.

"You know I was actually kind of jealous of Natsu," he admitted, "Because he got a girl before I did. I always figured I needed to make an effort to find a girl to my own. But I never actually needed to. A girl of my own was always close by." He then burst through the water bubble, as he threw his arms around Juvia.

"Come back to us!" Gray demanded, "Come back to me!"

(in the real world)

The hydra began to froze, before completing shattering. Geier and Agora both fell to the ground, defeated.

"Juvia!" Wendy cried. However, in a light mist, she could see a figure, embracing another.

"Gray?" Gray didn't look up, as he held the unconscious Juvia close.

"I'm sorry," he muttered.

(with Happy)

Happy continued to flutter around the halls, making no progress in finding Lucy. He had heard it when Natsu was freed, so he was also looking for him. Turns out, he wouldn't need to.

The cat barely had time to fly out of the way when Natsu blasted past him.

"Natsu!" Happy called, "Wait up!" He then flew after his partner.

(with Frieze)

Frieze continued to wait for Natsu, ready to fight. Eventually, he began to notice a very faint glow in the tunnel. Not missing a beat, Frieze thrust out of his hand, sending out a massive stream of cold magic from his palm, and into the tunnel.

"Now freeze!" he snapped. However, there was an explosion of fire, as Natsu emerged from the energy, his Dragon's Eye glowing. His chest glowing, he released his fire. Frieze held up his hand, as the fire was extinguished, but he could still feel an intense heat from it. That shouldn't be the case.

Natsu looked up, and saw Lucy floating.

"Lucy!" he cried. He noticed she was now noticeably pregnant. Natsu glared at Frieze.

"What did you do to her?" he demanded. Frieze cracked his neck, as his blue tattoos glowed.

"I'm 'assisting' her in the pregnancy," he answered. Natsu got so angry that the air around him steamed. Threatening his girlfriend was bad enough, but Frieze was also threatening his child. He didn't say anything, but a reptilian growl slithered out of his body. Natsu put his hands together, before stretching one of them back, forming what almost looked like a sling of fire.

"Fire Dragon's Arrow!" A bolt of fire then struck down at Frieze, who held up his arms. The fire consumed him, but Natsu was surprised to see him practically unscathed.

"You can't burn me!" Frieze declared, as he formed an orb of cold energy, and threw it at Natsu. The orb then multiplied into ten more, as they encircled him.

"Ring of Ice!" The orbs then exploded into cold energy, creating a tower of ice where Natsu was. However, it soon exploded in a blast of fire, as Natsu emerged, his fire wings active. He then swooped down at Frieze, and breathed his fire. However, just liked last time, it didn't do a thing.

"How're you doing that?!" Natsu demanded.

"I wield Temperature Magic," Frieze explained, "Both hot and cold are at my beck and call. Even the heat of your fire."

"Then try this fire!" Natsu said, as he flapped his wings at Frieze, sending a wave of flames at his enemy. Frieze flicked his wrist at the wave, as the flames got snuffed out, but again, he could feel the heat. How did his flames became so much hotter? he thought. After that, Natsu dove down towards him. He breathed out more fire, which Frieze instead opted to dodge. He then clenched his fist, as the air around Natsu froze into large spears. However, when they came down, on him, the spears were rather promptly melted down.

"Is that it!" Natsu said, as he swooped back towards Frieze.

As the two mages dueled, Happy flew into the chamber, as he looked over the ritual, it hadn't stopped. Natsu was so focused on destroying Frieze, he hadn't thought of to stop the ritual. Deciding to focus on Lucy, Happy flew up to where she was.

"Lucy!" he called, "Snap out of it!" Lucy remained in her trance as she hovered in the air.

"Come on!" Happy said, as he grabbed her face, and slapped her slightly, "You've gotta wake up!"

Natsu breathed out another massive stream of fire. Frieze leapt out of the way, as he picked up a rock and threw it at Natsu. His red tattoos then glowed, as the rock melted. The blue tattoos then lit up as well, as the lava hardened, forming some sort of encasing over Natsu's face. In the time it took Natsu to rip it off his face, he was struck with one of Frieze's cold blast, sending him flying into the wall. He then brought his hands together, creating a swirling vortex of hot and cold.

"Burning Chill!" He then blasted that combined energy at Natsu. The blast consumed the Dragon Slayer, as it blew a hole in the wall.

"Natsu!" Happy cried. Frieze cackled.

"You're weak, Salamander!" he said, "You aren't worthy of having so much powerful magic! But your child will be strong, and it will destroy all my enemies! Nothing will stand in my way for power! And the child will be the key to it all!" However, the rock exploded, as Frieze was taken aback by the sudden burst of heat. Suddenly, a shadow fell over him. Frieze looked up, and saw a pair of wings blocking out the light. Natsu had assumed his Dragon Aspect.

The magical aura that Frieze could feel was overwhelming. And the heat was beyond immense. His Temperature Magic meant that Frieze was very sensitive to hot and cold, and this heat felt greater than any he had ever fault before.

Natsu could feel the power of Dragon Aspect flowing through him, but he also could feel it draining away. He knew that he could only use this form for a brief time, and after that….

"Now you burn!" Natsu roared, as he inhaled.

"You will never burn me!" Frieze proclaimed, as he held up his hands, his tattoos glowing. Natsu then released a massive stream of fire at Frieze, as Frieze tried to extinguish it with the cold. But nothing happened.

"What?!" Frieze snapped as the fire was soon upon him, "Why isn't the fire being extinguished?!" He then saw an image in the flames. A massive serpentine form with wings, and glowing eyes.

"Is this… dragon fire?" Frieze muttered, before letting out a tremendous scream. The screams were seared away by the fire, as was his flesh.

Within in an instant, Frieze simply didn't exist. The fire had completely incinerated him. Steam leaked out of Natsu's mouth as he floated to the ground, as he lost his draconic features. He then glanced at the ritual performers, who all panicked, and scattered. The statues then ceased to glow, as Lucy also stopped glowing. Happy caught her before she started to fall.

(with Gray, Wendy, and Juvia)

Wendy was healing Juvia, with Gray and Carla by her side. Carla then noticed Erza glowing, before starting to crack slightly.

"Erza!" she cried. However, the glow consumed everyone, and when it faded, it showed the red head lying on the floor.

"Erza?" Wendy asked. The re-quip mage weakly leaned up, as she looked at her guild mates.

"Well that was unpleasant," Erza muttered.

(with Natsu)

"Lucy!" Natsu called, as Happy brought her down. He caught her, and held her close. Lucy then stirred as she slowly opened her eyes, and looked up at Natsu.

"I know you'd come," she whispered.

(sometime later)

"So she's completely okay, right?" Natsu asked.

"For the hundredth time, yes," Porlyusica answered.

"Natsu, she probably knows what she's talking about," Lucy said, as she rubbed her now prominent stomach. After the fiasco with Frieze, the group had come back to Fairy Tail, and Lucy was taken to the alchemist to ensure she was in good health.

"I have heard about that ritual being performed," Porlyusica explained, "It doesn't harm the mother or the child. You're baby should be perfectly healthy when its born." Natsu let out a sigh of relief at that.

"No if you don't mind, you are no longer in need of my help, no please depart," Porlyusica instructed. Not inclined to stay, the couple headed back out.

(at Fairy Tail)

"So what was it like being a staff?" Wendy asked.

"Not a good experience," Erza answered, "I could still see and hear, but I couldn't move. It was like I was imprisoned in my own body."

"That sounds scary," Happy said.

"I would certainly not recommend it," Erza answered. Meanwhile, Evergreen leaned over towards Cana.

"Mind telling me what's up with them?" she asked, pointing. Gray and Juvia were sitting together, with Juvia snuggled up against Gray. But Gray wasn't pushing her away like he normally was. Much to the contrary, he pulled her closer, and pressed his forehead against her own.

"Gray finally broke," Cana answered, "Don't ask me how, but Juvia did it, but she did."

"We're back!" Natsu announced, as he and Lucy came in. Lucy waved at everyone. Kinana quickly ran over to them, and looked at Lucy's belly.

"You're baby's going to come real soon, right?" she asked.

"Just another month or so, probably," Lucy answered, as she rubbed her stomach, "I'm actually kind of excited, being a mother even sooner than I thought."

"I'm going to be a dad soon, too!" Natsu said, throwing his arm around Lucy's shoulder.

"I can't wait to have a child too!" Juvia said, as she looked at Gray.

"Not yet," Gray said, as he turned slightly red, "Let's take it slow."

"Of course!" Juvia said happily, "Juvia is just so happy to finally be with Gray!" She grabbed Gray's arm to illustrate her point. Gray smiled as well.

"Hey everyone!" Warren said as he burst in. Everyone looked over at him.

"Gildarts is back!"

Note: The notion of Natsu now being able to activate Dragon Aspect is that he can only achieve that form when he's in a state of extreme rage and desperation. Its not as if he can turn it on and off like nothing.

Next arc will be the Edolas arc. I'd love to hear some suggestions on how to differentiate it from canon.